.ART Domains Set to Launch Late 2016

09/06/2016Author: AD

Yeah you heard it right, the arts sector is set to get their own .ART domain name from Autumn 2016 and this will provide immediate identification with the arts. Just last week, UK Creative Ideas Limited (UKCI) signed a deal with the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN) to launch these new .art domains and this is dedicated to serving the arts and culture community and enhancing the art industry’s online presence.

What are .ART domains?

Designed to ‘digitally unify’ the international art world under one domain, the .art domain will be available later in 2016 for purchase.

With a desire to preserve and protect the arts industry online, .ART will be exclusive to both arts organisations and younger players to the arts scene who want to be identified with the arts world. Over the coming years, the online presence of the arts industry is expected to change and thanks to the new domains, it will provide a space for these changes to occur in and evolve, as well as offering new possibilities for arts professionals and industry enthusiasts to share insights and information with audiences worldwide.

You can register your interest in a .ART domain here for now and sign up to keep up to date with the important .ART dates and upcoming events.

Why are .ART domains being made available?

You might be wondering whether this will catch on or not but think back to 2014 when the .scot, .wales, .london, .berlin and .nyc were made available - Dirk Krischenowski of DotBerlin was quoted saying "locality-based domains could lead to a fundamental change to how the internet is used".

As well as immediate identification with the arts, the launch of the .ART domain provides a great opportunity for the arts industry to create a tight-knit online community and connect to audiences across the globe through the unified .ART domain. When .scot domains were launched back in 2014, this provided both Scottish businesses and citizens the ability to strengthen their web and email identity as well as optimising the way in which their websites are found online - a clear opportunity for the new .art domains when they launch later this year.

Will they be popular?

Despite the rapid uptake in .nyc domains when they launched back in 2014, these have been labelled a rare success story amongst location based domains which have yet to prove themselves. So, until .art domains launch, we won’t know whether they will be fully embraced by arts and culture organisations and individuals worldwide.

Ultimately, it is hoped that by providing more name choices (such as those that are already snapped up with traditional .com and .co.uk variations) the art world will more easily be able to connect to its audiences.

Which domain would you be looking to snap up when they become available? Let us know over on Twitter.